Even though the government shutdown officially ended two days ago, the TSA screeners still haven’t seen a paycheck in 2019. The checkpoints in Austin appeared to be fully staffed and the agents all professional and helpful. It was nice to see them getting a lot of love from passengers as we filed through screening. Thank you TSA and FAA employees for making today’s launch of our Costa Rican adventure possible!

Our karma appears or be good, as all four pieces of our checked luggage weighed in at 47.5 to 49.0 pounds each, saving us the ignominy of reshuffling contents to avoid excess weight fees.

My fantastic wife, Jill, and I have a lucky pre-flight Austin airport meal routine. If it’s a morning flight we get potato and egg breakfast tacos at the airport. If it’s an afternoon or evening flight we get a Cuban sandwich and a gin and tonic at Annie’s. Sometimes we get more than one gin and tonic if we’re really feeling lucky,

Mission accomplished!

On to Houston…

After months of planning, tomorrow is the day! After a Costa Rican themed sendoff at Tango yesterday, Todd is officially on sabbatical. Jill has been experimenting with online counseling for several months and is ready to make the leap to hyperspace. We’ve made lists. We’ve acquired gear. And now we are… Packed! Tomorrow we leave Austin at 2:55PM and with a quick layover in Houston we will arrive in San Jose at 8:40PM. We are as ready as we will ever be.

How lucky are we to have the opportunity for this grand adventure? We will spend the next three months in Costa Rica, learning Spanish and exploring the diverse natural highlights of this beautiful country. Hopefully we will also make some new friends along the way. We will try to post frequent updates here to keep our friends and family up to date.

Adventure is out there! — Up